Kiss
by hlp
Summary: The life and times of Riddick and Jack. Jack grows up and Riddick helps.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Really, nothing, it's actually quite sad.

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He opened his eyes slowly but it only took a fraction of a second for the adrenalin rush to start. This wasn't right, why was he so groggy and why was he having a hard time moving his limbs? "They drugged me," he thought "after everything that happened they drugged me. I should have just left them in that cave. Trying to rejoin the human race, see what that got you? As soon as this drug wears off I'm going to shiv both of them." They must have used a lot of the sedative because most regular doses really had no effect on him. As he lay there looking up at the wires and bent metal that made up the top of the skiff he wondered whose idea it was. Probably the holy man, he could tell he never fully trusted him, but the girl? He thought she actually liked him. "That was your first mistake, thinking someone likes you. She just wanted to get off that planet like everyone else and she knew you could do that. She just used you."

He decided he would kill the holy man first because the drug thing was his idea, then the girl next for going along with it. But what were they planning on doing? They couldn't pilot a ship as far as he knew and why didn't they check up on him to make sure the drug wasn't wearing off? He was actually glad they weren't checking on him because there was some feeling coming back into his left arm. He reached up to rub the top of his head and then let his hand rest on his face, all the while trying to will the rest of his body to move. It wasn't working. While he was thinking of the slowest way to kill the other two passengers he noticed something. "Wasn't there blood on the side of my face?" He rubbed the side of his forehead and his ear. Looking at his hand he saw nothing but the blood of those he killed. But that wasn't anything new; that had haunted him for years. No matter how hard he scrubbed it would never come off. As he lay there staring at his hand he also realized that his face must have also been cleaned because there was no dirt on his hand either. "They drugged me so they could wash my face? This doesn't make any sense."

He figured that the drug must still be affecting his thinking. He decided to lie there where they put him and let the drug wear off and then when they did come to check on him he would ghost them then. He put his arm back under the covers. "Covers - why would they care if I was cold?" Maybe they were trying to keep him alive for the bounty. "You really think these two would think they could get away with that? They wouldn't be that stupid." As he put his hand down by his side he felt the skin of his leg. That wasn't surprising since he could remember the struggle with the creature and the gash in his leg. Then he felt something else. Where the wound used to be was material. It was soft and fluffy, like a towel. He felt around the gauze and could tell they put it on his leg to stay; they used a lot of tape around the edges. He realized that they didn't drug him to keep themselves safe; they drugged him because they knew he would refuse their help. "I'm still going to kill them; I didn't ask them to help me. They had no right to drug me."


	2. Chapter 2

He noticed that the girl was now looking at him. She was sleeping right behind the co-pilot chair she had been sitting in when they took off. Moving his arm must have woken her up.

"Is your leg starting to hurt?" she asked. If he could have moved his right arm he would have reached over and snapped her neck. Fortunately that arm was still numb, plus his anger was starting to wear off. "Why is it so dm cold?" was his response. "Because this skiff wasn't really made for deep space flight. It's just supposed to take you up out of a planet's atmosphere and dock with a real ship."

"You only can move one arm?" "So far. How long have you been watching me?" "I can't sleep, its freezing." "The Holy Man seems okay." Imam was in the back portion of the ship, fast asleep with his prayer beads still clutched in his hand. "It is warmer back there because of the engines. He wanted me to sleep back there but we couldn't move you and you and him wouldn't have fit up here. He argued with me for a while but I finally got him to go to sleep." As she was talking he tried to move his right arm. Success! "Do you want more drugs for your leg?" "No and if you or the holy man ever drug me again I will kill you both." "We knew you wouldn't let us help you otherwise." "So I'm not allowed to refuse your help? I've taken care of myself along time before you two came along." "You're welcome" was her sarcastic response. He started re-visiting the whole neck snapping idea.


	3. Chapter 3

"How many blankets do you have?" he asked. "Same as you, one underneath me and two on top." "Come here and bring your blankets with you." "Okay" was her only response. She moved quickly because of the cold. "She sure is trusting." He would have to warn her about that later, she wasn't going to last long if she was just going to go around doing whatever a guy told her to do.

Before he knew it she was under his blankets with him. She had thrown her three blankets on top of his two when she moved but it was to cold for her to bother trying to straighten them out. He sat up and put all the blankets together. Now they had one blanket underneath and five on top.

The situation would have been perfect if not for the fact that they were both lying on their backs and the blankets covered all of Jack but only half of Riddick. He turned onto his right side. "Lay on your side" he demanded. She was once again quick to obey. She was now facing him. "Better?" she asked. He was momentarily stunned at her action. She was staring right into his eyes so he decided to stare back for a moment. It looked like she could see right through him. He couldn't see anything in her big eyes except innocence.

She wasn't trying to be cute and she wasn't coming on to him he decided. That didn't mean it didn't piss him off just the same. He was a man, a man who had been in the Slam and then chased and caught my Johns. It had been a long time since he was this close to a female. "She's just a kid", he told himself. Without any warning he grabbed her left wrist and flipped her all the way over on to her right side. Still having a firm grip on her wrist he growled into her ear. "Don't ever even think of doing that again. No female has ever been this close to me without something, good or bad, happening to them."

That really wasn't true he admitted to himself. He didn't do anything to Caroline and there were a few others that safely made it through a meeting with him, but those had been very brief encounters. Any women staying longer than a few seconds was either there to get screwed (voluntarily of course, he didn't need to rape anyone) or was a merc and got herself killed.

He let go of her wrist and felt her shivering next to him. He hoped it was because she was scared but he moved the blanket farther up on his neck, which in turn pulled them up higher on Jack just to make sure it wasn't because of the cold. "What's going to happen to me?" she asked with her voice shaking. "She is scared - good", he thought. He had learned a long time ago that if you get into people's minds you can survive a lot longer, plus he got a sick enjoyment out of it for some reason. He leaned into her ear again and in the lowest, rumbling voice he had said, "nothing...yet."

That seemed to scare her more than what he had said before. He actually had to suppress a laugh. If he really wanted to do something to her he would have killed the holy man as soon as they got on the skiff and then did whatever he wanted with her. Why would he go about attacking her slowly? Well he was successful in scaring the crap out of her anyway. "That will teach her to be more careful around people."

He had put his arm over her waist and his hand was resting on her stomach. That actually made him a little uncomfortable since it seemed to be such an intimate gesture but there was really nowhere else for his arm to go. "She's just a kid," he kept telling himself over and over.

"I was just trying to look at your eyes again", she said suddenly. "Why?" "Because they're beautiful". That actually did make him chuckle a little. "Beautiful is for girls Jack", he replied. "Anything can be beautiful, even guys. I was just trying to give you a compliment." Now she was telling him he was beautiful?

She was starting to make it difficult for him to be this close to her. He had never been told anything about him was attractive, especially his eyes. Most people when seeing his eyes were visibly repulsed. They saw him as even more of a monster than he was. He had actually always been self-conscious about the eyes. They came in handy in dark places and they did scare people when necessary but before the eye shine women would actually talk to him, with the eye shine he would always get the same reaction that he got from Caroline, they immediately tried to get away from him as soon as possible. Jack was the first person who actually seemed to be attracted to his eyes. He thought that was nice and very, very dangerous at the same time.


	4. Chapter 4

"Shut-up and go to sleep." He had had enough of this conversation, as he knew that no matter what it wasn't going to end well. He could tell that she wasn't sleeping but at least he succeeded in getting her to be quiet. Just then he noticed that the top of his thumb was resting up against some sort of band underneath her shirt.

"What's this?" he asked moving the top of his thumb across the bottom of the band. "What do you think it is? It's a bra." "For what?" he teased trying not to laugh again. "It is a special bra, I'm supposed to be a guy remember? I went to a store that had stuff that helps make women look like men and men look like women. It is a super strong compression bra, like binding I guess." "Did you buy a fake dick to?"

As he finished that question he moved his hand ever so slightly. It had the desired affect because in less than a split second she was out from under the covers and trying to hide in a corner. This time he did have to laugh. It was a low rumbling laugh so as not to wake up Imam. It reverberated throughout the metal of the cabin.

She actually thought he was going to grab her crotch to check. He loved messing with people. Since she had heard him laugh it was starting to dawn on her that he was playing with her. She got back under the covers. "You're just screwing with me aren't you?" she asked. "Yeah."

"You probably should really take that off," he stated a few moments later. "Uh, I'm okay" she replied slowly. "At least she doesn't just take her clothes off because some guy suggests it," he noted. He was being serious with her though, it didn't sound safe or comfortable to him to have something that tight on and it was starting to worry him.

"You're going to hurt yourself if you keep it on." "Fine" she said without any more argument. He figured that must mean it was bothering her so he was glad he pushed the issue. He could feel her hand come up her back to unhook it so he moved back to give her some room. Because it was so tight she seemed to be having some trouble. "Could you help me please?" she asked him after a few seconds.

How was he going to get out of this? He was the one who suggested her taking it off and now she was asking for his help? How would he be able to say no? He decided that he would just have to move quick. He reached up with one hand under her shirt and had the hooks undone in less than a second. She then took it off under her shirt.

Once she was done she moved back against him to be in the same position they were in before. She was at this point killing him. He wished they could just go to sleep. He put his arm back over her waist and immediately was struck with a very disturbing thought. "I wonder how big they really are," he thought. Finally they both closed their eyes.

He didn't know how long they had both been asleep but the drug had completely worn off so he was able to move fast as soon as her elbow connected to his forehead. He knew immediately that she was having a nightmare. He threw his bad leg, which shot pain all the way up his hip immediately, over her legs and used his arm to pin her arms to the side of her body. He realized at this point that she would then wake up and her first reaction would be to scream.

He was right. No less than a second after he clamped his hand firmly over her mouth did her eyes shoot open. He could feel the force of a scream on his hand. "You were having a nightmare. Calm down and don't scream or you are going to wake Imam."

It seemed to him that she was having a hard time figuring out where she was and why she was there. She was looking at him in shear terror as if that was the first time she had seen him. "I'll let you go if you don't scream."

As she nodded her head in agreement it looked like it finally dawned on her where she was. As soon as he let go of her mouth, arms and legs she turned towards him, grabbed him around the neck and started to cry into his chest. Dang kid.


	5. Chapter 5

He heard her saying something in-between sobs. He didn't want to pull back from her because the last thing he needed was to wake Imam and get a lecture about appropriateness. As he listened closer he could make out that she was saying "Thank You" over and over to him. She calmed down in a few minutes. She looked up directly into his eyes again. "Sorry," she said. At first he thought she was talking about the nightmare but then she tried to turn around and he remembered he told her not to face him. He wouldn't let go. "Go to sleep" he said to her. She figured out that he was giving her permission to stay this way. She moved her arms from his neck to wrap around his waist and put her head back against his chest. "Thank you Riddick...for everything."

The next day Riddick was able to come across a signal from a nearby planet. He figured out that the Hunter-Grazer distress call wasn't answered because the com system must have got knocked out during the crash. He still wondered why the former planets inhabitants couldn't have signaled for help. As if reading his thoughts, Imam came up behind the pilot's chair Riddick was sitting in and looked at the planet they were nearing. "Why didn't anyone from here help those on the planet?" he asked. "Because all the systems on the planet were run by solar power, even the communications system" Jack stated as though it was the easiest thing in the world to figure out. Riddick was glad he wasn't the one to ask the question.

"Looks like from the signals I'm getting that this is an in-between planet" Riddick noted as he prepared the ship to enter the atmosphere. They were planets that were not really habitable. It was mostly a stop in-between other planets so that ships could refuel, get repairs and stock up on supplies and rest if needed.

Once they landed in the port Riddick announced that he would be the one to go out and get the supplies they needed to get them to the nearest habitable planet. Imam immediately objected, he argued that it wouldn't be safe for Riddick to go, someone might recognize him. "This kinda place is dangerous for you two, not me. As I said stay here while the cells are getting re-fueled and I'll be back," Riddick stated as he lowered the hatch. As he walked out he heard light footsteps behind him. "Riddick", she said quietly so as to avoid notice by any others who may be in the spaceport. He turned around to face her but didn't say anything. "Can you get me something?" she asked. He stood there waiting for her to say something but she didn't, in fact it looked like she was about to cry. "What kid?" She let out a loud sigh and then walked up to him. He was the one that usually got close to people; her getting that close threw him off for a second, even though he didn't show it on the outside. She cupped her hand around his ear and whispered into it. Even with his acute hearing he could barely make out what she said. As soon as she was finished she back away from him fast. He moved quicker than her though, backing her up against the side of the ship. He then slowly but firmly put his fist against the ship right next to the side of her head. She looked terrified. He got really close to her face and pulled his goggles up onto his forehead before he spoke. "You better be happy I like you kid." Without another word he turned around and was heading for the shops. After a few seconds of getting her bearings Jack went back inside the ship and closed the hatch.


	6. Chapter 6

He came back about 30 minutes later, just in time to pay for the re-fueling of the cells. He came up the ramp to find Imam and Jack playing some sort of makeshift board game on the floor. He walked up to them and handed them each a package. He gave Imam a men's travel pack. It had mini sized toiletries. Riddick got one for himself to. He then handed Jack a medium sized shinny bag with satin rope handles. She wondered why she didn't just get a women's travel bag. She was about to start pulling stuff out of the bag when Riddick shot her a quick warning look. "Can I speak to you real quick, Holy Man?" Riddick and Imam went to the back of the cabin to speak about something. Riddick did have something to ask Imam but he also figured he would use the opportunity to distract him so that Jack could look in her bag.

Jack looked in the bag and saw that she indeed got a women's travel kit, but she also got what she had asked Riddick for and she even got new clothes, including a real bra. It unnerved her that not only did he know when she was bleeding but also apparently knew what size bra she needed to wear. She decided to not think about it and just be relived that she had what she needed. She was going to have to thank Riddick later for the bag and for not letting her pull all of it out in front of Imam; she would have died of embarrassment. It was bad enough Riddick knew all of her business, even though Riddick didn't seem to mind or even care.

"One last stop before we go", Riddick told her pulling her out of her thoughts. As she got up off the ground he grabbed his travel pack off his chair where he has tossed it earlier. As she passed by him to the back of the skiff she mouthed, "thank you" to him. He didn't say anything in return; he just nodded to the ramp. They all exited quickly and Riddick led the way across the docking station to what looked like restrooms. After using the cred card to open the door Riddick took one last look around to make sure they were all alone and then told them to go inside. Once they were in and the light was turned on they saw that it was more than a restroom it was a whole bathroom with a toilet, a shower and a nice big double sink. "We only have 5 minutes of hot water so I'm going to tell you how we do this. You get in and get wet using the cold water, turn the water off and then lather up. Then turn the hot water on to quickly, and I mean quickly, rinse off. Then it's the next person's turn, understand?" They other two nodded in agreement. "I'll go first," Riddick said as he took his shoes off. Jack went over to the sink to wash her face and brush her teeth while Riddick was in the shower. As he was in the process of taking his shirt off he heard Imam cough loudly. He looked at the Holy Man and then looked over at the kid. He had forgotten, he was used to sharing small spaces with other people. He got in the shower to take the rest of his clothes off. Soon clothes started being thrown up and over the shower curtain rod onto the floor. Before Jack could even finish what she was doing at the sink Riddick was out of the shower, with only a towel on picking up his clothes off the floor. This got another look from Imam. Riddick stepped back into the shower to put his clothes on. A few seconds later a towel flew over the curtain, landing at Imam's feet. "You're next" he said to Imam as he stepped out of the shower.

Imam got in the shower hanging his clothes out on the hook that was located next to the tub. The water was off a minute later and he was out adjusting his headpiece. "Your turn," he said to her, "you don't have to use any cold water. There should be about 3 more minutes of hot water for you." She turned to Riddick. "Is this what you were talking to Imam about earlier?" she asked. All he decided to give her for an answer was one of his smirks. She got into the shower. After taking off her clothes she folded them up and set them on the ground outside the tub being careful to have the shower curtain cover her. As she took her shower Riddick picked up her old clothes to throw them away. He noticed that she had rolled up her underwear into her pants. He figured it must be a girl thing. Carefully as to avoid un-rolling the pants, he pulled out whatever was in her pockets. She had some money in one pocket, not that it would do any of them any good. Creds were good throughout the Universe but money was only good on the planet it came from. Riddick figured it must have been from the planet she had run away from. In the other pocket there was a picture. It was old and had wrinkles and scratches from being carried for so long. There was a little girl that Riddick could only assume was Jack and a man. She was about six and the man had knelled down next to Jack and she was sitting on his bended knee. He saw in the background that there was a fence and an animal, looked like they were visiting the zoo. Jack looked so happy. "Cute kid," Riddick thought as he put it down on top of her old backpack along with the money.

Jack stepped out of the shower clean and her clothes actually fit, she was going to have to ask Riddick later how he managed to know so much about her after knowing her for such a short time. She looked to see that her old clothes were not where she had left them. She was about to panic when she saw her things on top of her backpack. "I have to use the restroom before we go," she said as Imam and Riddick packed up there travel packs. Imam left the restroom first and headed for the skiff. As Riddick was about to step outside the door, Jack grabbed his arm. Anyone else would have gotten their hand broken (at the very least) for doing that. Jack just got a low growl that caused her to immediately let go of him. "I just wanted to ask if you had to unroll my jeans to get the stuff out of the pockets?" "Why kid, hiding something?" He was just teasing her but she again looked like she was about to burst into tears. "Hurry up and get back to the skiff", he ordered as he went to walk out of the door again. As he went to step out of the doorframe he turned his head to the side and said, "no kid, I didn't."

As she stepped out of the restroom with her backpack in hand she was startled to find Riddick stepping up beside her as she walked toward the skiff. "You waited for me?" "It isn't safe." "I'm not four; I can find my way back from where I came from." "You sure about that?" At that statement, Jack began to notice the eyes that were watching her from the shadows. She moved closer to Riddick. "You got to pay more attention kid," was Riddick's advise as they boarded the skiff and the hatch closed behind them.


	7. Chapter 7

"I was told that the next planet is about two days away," Riddick told them during take off. "Oh no!" Jack exclaimed suddenly. Imam thought something was wrong with her. "What is wrong child?" "We didn't get the heater fixed." "We didn't have enough creds to get it fixed and I don't want to start messing around with the electrical system, this is the only ship we have for right now." Riddick was angry; he felt like the girl was nagging him or something, not that he usually cared what anyone said about him. The fact that he cared about what she said made him even more pissed off. Fortunately both Imam and Jack noticed the change in mood and stayed quiet. Imam went back to the back of the cabin to resume his prayers. About thirty minutes later Jack finally got up enough nerve to speak again. "I just didn't want you or me to be cold again, that's all". "Were you cold last night?" "No." "So don't worry about it."

Since they left the planet Riddick had been trying to get their internal clocks back on track. Cryosleep wrecked havoc on normal sleep patterns so every sixteen hours Riddick made everyone sleep, whether they were tired or not.

Riddick and Jack were in the same position that they had started out with the night before with his hand on her stomach. They soon fell fast asleep but Riddick woke about any hour later. Jack was rocking ever so slightly back and forth and he kept hearing her whimper which each breath she was exhaling. "What's wrong kid?" She was in pain but she was trying super hard to not wake him. "I'm fine, sorry for waking you," she said quickly hoping that he would go back to sleep. "I asked you what was wrong and I expect an answer," he demanded. He was tired of her being so cagey all the time, if he didn't want to know he wouldn't have asked in the first place.

She started crying of course. "What is wrong with this kid, I have never seen someone cry so much before." Just then he noticed her stomach muscles tightening up and she was bringing her knees up toward her chest and she was breathing unevenly. Riddick didn't know much about how women worked but he did have enough knowledge to know two things. They had periods and some had cramps too. "Kid, why didn't you ask me to get you more medicine while I was out?" "I had taken the last of it from the med kit and I was feeling pretty good for awhile so I forgot to ask you, I figured they were over." Riddick reach back behind him to grab the med kit that was in the corner. He pulled the vial of sedative they had used on him earlier and a syringe. As he was filling the syringe Jack turned around to see what he was doing…and immediately freaked out.

"I don't want that, it's addictive." "I'm not even giving you enough to knock you out just enough to relax your muscles, plus it didn't seem to bother you when you were shooting me up with it." "Please don't give that to me, I'll be good, I'll let you sleep," she begged him. He had had enough of this craziness. He grabbed her arm and pinned it to the floor, "look kid, I'm going to give you this to relax you so you can sleep because if you can sleep it means that I can sleep. I am not going to do anything to hurt you." With that he stuck the needle into her vain. The only thing that kept her from screaming was that she was afraid Imam would wake up and try to protect her and get himself killed.

"Now that wasn't so bad now was it kid?" Riddick thought she was just afraid of needles and trying to get out of taking the shot. "I hate you," was her response. She then turned around and started to cry again. "Kid start talking, what the hell is wrong with you?" "I just don't want to turn out like my Mom, that's all." "You're not going to turn out like your Mom." "How do you know?" "Because I won't let you."


	8. Chapter 8

He put his arm back over her, "Who's the guy in the picture?" "That's my Dad." Even though she had her back to him he could tell she was smiling. "He left?" "Car accident," she stated sadly, "I was in the car, he was a lot more messed up than me. It seemed like forever for help to get there; by the time they did he was already dead. I couldn't save him, I couldn't do anything to help him." "Kid, I've know a lot of people who have had to die alone, away from anyone they knew, anyone who cared. They fact that you were there for him, that's all the help he needed."

She started to feel the drug take affect and Riddick could feel her relax under his arm. He closed his eyes again to go to sleep. "Riddick?" "Yeah kid?" "Why did you kill Johns' when you did? I mean I know he was a merc and he deserved it but if you were going to kill him why did you wait so long?" "You wanted me to kill him sooner?" "Yeah, he was an ass." "I didn't kill him kid, the creatures did. I just wounded him." "Okay, why did you wound him?" "He said something I didn't like." "Like what?" "He wanted me to kill so the creatures would get distracted." "Who?!" Riddick didn't answer that. She soon figured it out for herself. "He wanted you to kill me?" Riddick still didn't say anything. She turned around to look at him. He was just lying there and had apparently been staring at the back of her head because now he was starting at her face. She reached up to put her hand on the side of his face. Before she could even touch him he grabbed her wrist. "Don't do that kid. Go to sleep." "Okay," she said as she turned back around. It was hard for her to go back to sleep after this new information. Now he had saved her three times for no real reason, he didn't know her, why would he care? She turned back around to look at him again. He was fast asleep this time. He actually looked kind of peaceful. She smiled and reached up to put her hand on the side of his face again. This time she was successful. With her hand still on his face she reached up and kissed him on the forehead. She put her head back down on the blanket and smiled at him again. She hadn't moved her hand away and at that very moment Riddick suddenly opened his eyes. She pulled her hand away as if Riddick's skin was suddenly on fire.

He was on top of her before she could think of what to do next. He had straddled her and had her arms crossed above her head as he was holding both her wrists with one hand. The other hand had a shiv in it and it was at this moment under her shirt by her stomach. "What did I tell you? You think I was joking? I'm starting to get the feeling that you want me to do something to you. Is that it, do you want me to hurt you?" He then forced his boots between her legs to force them open, "answer me kid, do you?" His answer came in the form of Jack trying to get away from him. She suddenly bucked up to try and get him to get off of her. In doing so Riddick's shiv cut her skin. Before the blood even started to flow Riddick had lifted her new shirt up so that no blood would get on it and dropped the shiv. He then took his shirt off and wadded it up and pressed it against the wound. Still on top of her he reached over to get the med kit and pulled out some gaze and tape. Throwing his shirt into the corner he proceeded to put the bandage on her wound. All the while Jack stared at him in horror and confusion. Why would he threaten to hurt me and then help me?

Riddick was exhausted, not only did he have to deal with this girl (which it was obvious he wasn't very good at) he also had to deal with the conflict within himself. He really wished they could just both go to sleep and forget about it, but he knew that wasn't happening. He had to at least try to explain, he owed her that much. "Look kid, I told you not to touch me. The human side of me knows that you are just a little girl and you are just trying to be nice. All the animal side of me sees is a female who is close to me doing things that no one has ever done before. So when I tell you not to do something just trust me okay?"

"Never done what before?" "What?" "You said I was doing things no one had ever done before, what are you talking about?" "What you did kid, you were there." "So you are trying to tell me that no one has ever touched you before?" "Not on my face, at least not in a good way." "And no one has ever kissed you on the forehead?" She thought that was about the saddest thing she had ever heard, her Dad used to kiss her on the forehead all the time when she was little. "No one has ever kissed me ever," he said thinking to himself that this was an entirely wrong conversation to be having with a teenage girl. She knew he was screwing with her now. She was young and really hadn't done anything but she had at least kissed boys before. In fact she liked it. "You're just screwing with me again." "No I'm not kid." She turned around to look at him in the eyes, gorgeous beautiful eyes. "You are seriously telling me you have never kissed anyone before and no one has ever kissed you?" "That's right kid." She suddenly has a huge urge to kiss him on the mouth but stopped herself, remembering what had just happened.

She turned back around, "so I was your first, huh?" Now she was trying to be cute, Riddick decided to just ignore it. She reached back behind her and grabbed his hand to put it back on her stomach, "goodnight Riddick." Riddick knew his life just got a billion times more complicated.


	9. Chapter 9

They settled on the next planet they came to. It was a good a planet as any. It was large but most of it was not habitable so the main city was huge and compact. Millions and millions of people, very easy for three nobody's to slip through the cracks. Imam wanted to visit one of the temples but Riddick said that that would only draw attention to the fact that there had been survivors from the planet. Instead Imam ran most of the errands so that Riddick could be seen as little as possible. Riddick got a job doing construction on one of the many high-rise projects. It was very dangerous work so it paid well enough to care for all three of them. Jack did not want to go to school and Riddick thought it might be better if she didn't with the registration process and the student counselors and teachers, he didn't want anyone to start asking questions. Instead she signed up for on-line classes using a fake name. She didn't like school but she didn't hate it. She did though decided to join some clubs just so she could get out of the house every once in the while. She joined a music and dance group. The dancing took quite a bit of work but from the first note that came from her mouth the teachers all labeled her a natural singer.

Discovering this talent was very exciting for her, her father always told her she had a wonderful voice but she figured he was just saying that because he was her Dad. Now that she knew she really could sing she sang everywhere…and to Riddick it was the most beautiful sound he ever heard. He never told her that but every time she started to sing in the house he was there, helping wash the dishes or helping her with her homework. He could hear her singing as she was walking down the street coming home from classes' everyday, it was the only thing that made him smile. Not that he would ever let anyone see him smile, smirk yes, smile no. She new he liked her voice, even if he didn't say it. Sometimes late at night as they sat and watched TV on the couch he would lay his head on her lap and she would scratch his back and sing him to sleep. It would be one of those silly children's songs but Jack thought it was cute and Riddick didn't really care as long as she was singing. The ironic thing was is that Riddick never fell asleep first. He always ended up carrying Jack to her room.

He had tried many times to get Jack and Imam to learn how to fight. To Imam it was not right to learn how to harm someone and he would have nothing to do with it. Jack just didn't have any interest in it. "You'll always be around to protect me," she would say. "You don't know that Jack." "Of course I do, you aren't going anywhere." He knew she was right. Riddick decided that he at least needed to take some precautionary measures so he made a small bulletproof area hidden into the living room wall. Once you closed it no one would know there was a door there at all. At least if he wasn't there Imam and Jack would have a place to hide.

It was a beautiful Tuesday evening. Jack just got out of one of her dance classes. The time had just changed so it was still daylight out and she needed some more shampoo so she decided to run by the drug store real quick before going home. As she walked out of the store she knew immediately that something was wrong. There were two guys just outside the door. As she walked out she heard one of them say, "that's her." That all she needed to hear, she took off running as fast as she could. She just needed to get back to the house, needed to get back to Riddick. She decided to jump over the back fence hoping they didn't see which one she disappeared behind. The back door was open before she even got to it and a very familiar, very big hand reached out and grabbed her. In no less than two strides he was at the hidden room pushing Jack into it with one motion. He was right behind her, shutting the door behind them both. She was on the floor lying on her stomach, head turned toward the door. He got on top off her to protect her in case any bullets still decided to come in. He completely covered her, he actually thought he was hurting her but she didn't make a sound, didn't move a muscle. She was so tall and skinny. It worried him sometimes, asking Imam if it was normal for her to eat so much and still not gain any weight. Imam assured him that she was okay and that it was just the way she was, like a model he said. Riddick couldn't disagree with that.

She was confused, she thought that the guys were just after her, trying to mug her or worse. Now she was more worried, Riddick was acting like it was much more than that. Riddick new what these guys were really after, him. And these weren't just merc's these were ghosters. They didn't want to bring you in alive for the big bounty. They wanted to kill you for the smaller bounty. It was safer for them that way and what they didn't make up for in quality they made up for in quantity. Riddick just wanted them to go away. He already knew that if these two tracked them down there would be others on the way; there was no way they could keep staying here. Fortunately Riddick kept a small ship at the docking port just in case they ever needed to make a fast get way. As he was formulating his escape plan he heard a noise. A key was being turned in the front door. Just then the bullets started to fly.

Now he was pissed off, he knew what just happened. He was going to just wait for the ghosters to leave but now they were going to die. He heard one start up the stairs and the other one going back into the kitchen. "Jack I'm going to go take care of this problem and when I come back we are leaving. Do not come out of this space until I come get you, understand?" "What about Imam?" she asked him. She hadn't heard the key in the door, didn't know that the thud noise came from a body falling on the ground.


	10. Chapter 10

Suddenly it got very quiet. Riddick then threw open the door and grabbed Jack out. He could tell that she had turned her head back, not that he could do much of anything about it considering that he now had to step over Imam to get out the front door. He picked her up and she wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. He had just enough time to bend down and close Imam's eyes before he started running. She was crying as she looked at Imam as they got further and further away from the house. She was singing a song of mourning that Imam had taught her to sing for those who died in the crash. Jack was so in shock that she didn't even realize she was singing or crying. She was singing just loud enough for Riddick to hear. For the first time her voice was the most disturbing thing he had ever heard, threatening to rip his heart out of his very chest.

He took the alleyways and back roads to get to the ship still making it in record time. Jack weighed nothing so he had no problem still holding on to her as he ran the ships diagnostics and went through the start-up procedures. Once he got clearance for take-off he knew that he was going to have to strap her down in the co-pilot chair. He actually didn't want to let go of her and he knew he was going to have a hard time getting her to let go. "Kid we have to take off. I have to strap you in." She didn't loosen her grip. "Jack, let go, just for a little while." She tightened her grip even more, forcing Riddick to literally have to rip her away from him and strap her in. She just stared straight ahead, Riddick figured she still must be in shock. He adjusted his restraints and got the hell out of there.

Once he figured out which direction to flee and set the auto-pilot he scanned the ship for any tracking devices. Seeing that everything was clear, he unhooked his straps and stepped over to Jack. It had been about an hour and she hadn't moved at all except her eyes looked like they were starting too close. He unhooked her and carried her to the back of the ship.

Jack woke up at first not knowing where she was. She was lying down with a blanket over her but it wasn't as comfortable as her own bed. Her own bed, her own house…it all came back to her at once and she wanted to die. She turned over to look at Riddick. His bunk was on the opposite wall. He was on his side with his back to her. She stared at him for a long time, trying to figure out what he must be thinking. She gave up; she could never figure him out. Just then she noticed his shoulder moving ever so slightly. He was crying, and that made her want to die a billion times more.

He never had cried before, not that he could remember anyway. Not even when he was little, but he couldn't help it now. Imam had been his best friend, in fact the first person to ever want to be his friend at all. He was so patient and kind and Riddick could never figure out how one person could care about him and the kid so much. So yes, he was going to cry and he wasn't going to feel bad about it, Imam deserved that much.

Jack wanted to go over to him but was afraid he would be upset that she noticed him. She got up quietly and tip-toed across the space between the beds. She slowly put her hand out and touched his shoulder, "are you okay?" "No, kid. You?" He wasn't mad at her, he was too exhausted and drained to care if she saw him, plus he knew that she would never hold it against him anyway. He felt her leg come up and over his, and then her other one. She laid down between him the wall. He reached up and wiped a tear away from her eye with his thumb. "No," she said between tears. He reached out and pulled her closer letting her bury her head between his head and the pillow. They stayed like that for a while. Once Riddick noticed that Jack had calmed down a little she pulled her head back to look at him. He thought she was going to say something but instead she grabbed his head real quick and kissed him on the mouth. Riddick was able to simultaneously jump backward out of the bed and land on his feet. He grabbed her up by her shoulders with her arms folded up in front of her. She had started to cry again and he couldn't think of anything to say so he just held her again. "I'm sorry Riddick, I shouldn't have done that." "It's okay Jack, I know you're just upset and trying to feel better." "I was trying to make you feel better too but I guess that didn't work." "You just surprised me, that's all." "Riddick, I'm tired." "Okay kid," he said as he picked her up. For a second Jack thought he was going to put her back in her bed. She wouldn't have blamed him considering what she just did but he got back into his bed with her.

She woke up in the middle of the night. She didn't know what had woken her up but now she couldn't go back to sleep. Sometime during the night Riddick had gotten up and closed the door between the beds and the bridge. The only thing she could see was a very faint light coming out from underneath the bathroom door. To make matters worse Riddick had turned over on his other side so that his back was now facing her and he was asleep. She was trying very hard not to panic but the dark was making it difficult. She kept thinking she saw things moving in the corners. "It's okay, Jack. Go back to sleep." She was immediately relived to know he was awake. "I thought you were asleep." "I was but your heart beating faster woke me up." "You are the lightest sleeper I have ever met." "How would you know how other men sleep?" "Okay, you are the lightest sleeper I have ever heard of." "Most people are cowards, they will wait until you are you're most vulnerable to hurt you. I learned to wake up quick in case anyone tried anything." As he finished his sentence he smelled blood, now he was wide wake. Before he could say anything Jack had jumped up and ran to the bathroom.

"Dang it," she thought, "my period isn't supposed to start for another week or so, it must be the stress." She opened up the med cabinet hoping Riddick would have thought ahead enough to store some supplies for her in it. To her relief she found a box toward the back. Riddick had left a little note on it, "you better be glad I like you kid." Riddick had a screwed up sense of humor.

Riddick was still awake when she got back into bed. "Sorry to keep waking you up," she said. She didn't have to tell him why she jumped up; she knew that he already figured it out.


	11. Chapter 11

She woke hours later to find Riddick gone, he had moved back up to the pilot's chair. The autopilot was still on and he was just staring out into space. She walked up next to his chair, "what are we going to do now?"

"That's what I've been trying to figure out." She sat down Indian style on the floor beside his chair. "Was I still your first?" It took him a second to figure out what she was talking about but it dawned on him that she was speaking about her kissing him earlier. "You kissed me before kid." "I mean on the mouth." "Yeah kid."

"Riddick, you should have gone out sometimes, you should have had a good time every once in the while. I had a boyfriend, Imam even stopped and talked to a very nice lady at one of the markets, I think he was about to ask her out. I hope the fact that you had to take care of us, had to keep an eye on us didn't keep you from having a girlfriend."

"You want to know why I have never kissed anyone before? Because I have never had a girlfriend before." He turned to face her. "No one wants to date the ex-con, no one wants to date the guy with a shine job. Girls like the bad boys but only up to a certain point. They don't want to date the guy who they heard stabbed a girl while he was screwing her. So the reason why I have never kissed a girl before is because the kind of women I know are the kind you pick up off a corner. They didn't want to kiss me and I defiantly didn't want to kiss any of them. And all the while that we were all living together I didn't do anything with anyone because I didn't want you and Imam to think badly of me, to be ashamed of me. So now you know." Riddick had never opened up to her this much before; she never knew he felt so bad about himself before. She got up on to her knees to be able to look him directly in the eye. "I have always loved your eyes. You are a beautiful person inside and out Riddick and it makes me happy to know I am the only one who has ever kissed you." With that she got up and went to the bathroom to take a shower. Riddick turned to the computer to try and figure out the best planet to make there next home.

That night she slept in her own bed on the other wall. "You know you're supposed to do something with your lips when you kiss someone. And you're supposed to close your eyes," she said while she was drifting off to sleep. "I know that, I told you that you caught me by surprise." "Whatever, Riddick," she replied, quietly giggling to herself. She was teasing him and he didn't like it. "I know how to do more stuff than you'll ever know little girl." "You don't know what I know, Riddick." "Kid, go to sleep." "It's okay Riddick, like they say, practice makes perfect." "Where is Imam when I need him," Riddick thought.

"Riddick, did you really stab a girl while you were having sex with her?" she asked a few minutes later. "She was a merc. Her team busted in on us with guns. So yeah, I killed them and then I killed her and then I got the heck out of there." He waited for a response but he soon realized that she had finally fallen asleep.

Riddick finally found a planet to settle on. It was a very prosperous city so Riddick was able to get a job as a bodyguard for various people. He was very good at it as most of the time he just had to look at someone to keep them from doing anything crazy. It paid well and as long as he kept them safe none of his employers asked any questions. He and Jack had a small but nice apartment. Riddick took the guest room and gave Jack the master bedroom at the end of the hall with its own private bathroom.

"Riddick, open the door," they had only been on the planet for a few months but he and Jack had seemed to fit right in. The rich kids on this planet seemed to only know how to go out and party and Jack was right there with them. The planet didn't have too bad of a crime problem, you could go out at anytime of the day or night and find people out enjoying themselves. Even though Riddick never really got too worried about her he always waited until he heard her open the front door to make sure she had gotten home safe. Usually when she got home she just went straight to her room and fell into bed. The fact that she was at his door now worried him. He got up and unlocked the door. There she stood, in barely nothing and he stood in just some sweat pants. She didn't look hurt. "What's wrong kid?" "I need some aspirin and there is none out here. Do you have any?" "Yeah, it's in the top drawer," he answered as he headed back to his bed. She came in and found the pills, despite the fact that there was hardly any light in the room.

He had gotten back in the bed and was trying to finally go to sleep when he felt her get in the bed with him. "What do you think you're doing?" "I don't feel good; I just need to lie down for a second." He was going to argue but he could already tell she was falling asleep beside him. He woke about and hour later to find that Jack had her arm wrapped around his waist and had put one of her legs over his. This was too close for her to be to him. He knew she was asleep but somehow had the feeling that she was touching him on purpose. In one swift motion he was out of the bed and carrying a still sleeping Jack into her room where he unceremoniously dropped her in her own bed. She woke up with a cry and before she knew what had just happened Riddick turned and left, shutting the door behind him. If looks could kill, Riddick would have been dead.


	12. Chapter 12

She stopped talking to him after that. Riddick wasn't much of a talker so it really didn't bother him at first but after a while he wondered if she would ever speak to him again. This went on for about two weeks. She would go out even more now, pretty much every night of the week, staying out until the sun came up. Riddick still couldn't sleep until he heard her come home and he needed to be able to get some sleep before he went to work each morning.

"So you're just never going to talk to me again?"

"You just now noticed?"

"I was hoping you would see how immature you were acting on your own, but apparently that isn't going to happen. You need to start coming home earlier so I can get sleep before I have to go the work."

"Why would you care if I come home at all Riddick."

"Kid, it's not right for you to be in the same bed with me, you are only 17 years old. You have your own room for a reason."

That was all she could take, she was in his face now. She was the only one who could get away with that.

"I happened to be sick, if you hadn't noticed and just so you know that day also happened to be the anniversary of my father's death. So yeah I didn't want to sleep alone but I thought it would be better to come home to you instead of going home with one of the guys at the club. Looking back on it now, they probably would have treated me better than you. I wasn't trying to do anything to you Riddick, I just needed someone to be there for me but I guess that's just too much to ask of you."

He had always been there for her and what she said had really hurt him. He decided he should leave before this argument got even worse.

"I'm going for a walk," he said with no emotion in his voice as he turned and walked out the front door.

She didn't think she could be any madder at him than she was right now. Staring at the door Riddick just walked out of she decided that if he didn't care about her she wasn't going to care about him. She got dress and went to one of the clubs and she was going to stay out for as long as she could.

Riddick came home and went straight to bed; he didn't know that Jack wasn't in her room until he heard the door open a few hours later. It was already 5 in the morning. He was mad now, something could have happened to her and he wouldn't have even known she was gone. But she was home now and he wasn't going to give her the satisfaction of confronting her about it. He heard her knock on his door.

"Not again," he thought.

"Go to sleep Jack."

"Riddick open the door, it's important," she said in a panicked voice. He was up and out in the hallway with her in less than a second. As soon as he opened the door he could tell that she had had sex, he could smell it. He grabbed her by the arms, "what did you do!", he yelled.

"I didn't do anything, Riddick. Please help me, it hurts, please," she begged him. He looked down to see blood on her pants.

"Dang it, Jack," he said as he ran back into his room to put on his shoes and shirt. He came back out into the hallway a second later with his blanket, picked Jack up off the floor and wrapped her in it and then took off toward the nearest hospital emergency room.

Fortunately the hospital was only a few blocks away. As soon as he stepped up to the counter the nurses saw that this was a critical situation and immediately took Jack from Riddick's arms. As they rushed her into one of the rooms they directed Riddick to one of the couch's at the end of the hallway. At first they thought he might be the cause of her injuries but they finally believed Jack, plus Riddick had been at a bar at the time Jack was hurt.

After what seemed like forever to Riddick the doctor finally came out to speak with him. The doctor was in his late forties and to Riddick looked like a man who had seen a lot crap, just like Riddick. "Except you're the one who usually causes the crap that happens when your around," Riddick told himself. The doctor hated giving family members bad news. He had had people yell, cry and even attack him and looking at Riddick he was defiantly thinking the latter was going to happen to him today. But he had to do his job.

"You're sister's toxic screen came back and it showed positive for a very common rape drug. She doesn't remember what happened but it seems as though she was raped numerous times by one or more attackers." Riddick had to force himself not to reach over and snap the doctor's head off just for the words that came out of his mouth. The only thing that stopped him is that he could see that the doctor was upset about Jack too.

"The rape kit came back with nothing which means the attacker or attackers wore a condom. That is a good thing in the fact that it limits Jack to contracting a sexually transmitted disease and pregnancy. It does make it more difficult, if not impossible, to track down the perpetrators. The police already took Jack's statement, but because she doesn't remember much, it really isn't anything to work with." Riddick could hear the blood rushing through is body; all his muscles were tense, ready to attack. Only problem was that there was no one to attack at the moment. Usually that didn't keep Riddick from hurting whoever happened to be closest to him, but he had to keep control, these people were trying to help Jack.

"I sent a counselor down to speak with her but she didn't want to talk so I gave her a phone number to a counselor that she can and should call anytime she needs to. You can also talk with the therapist too if you would like anytime, day or night," the doctor noted. This seemed to have a calming effect on Riddick which the doctor was very happy about because what he had to say next might just push Riddick over the edge.

"We have already discharged her and in case she doesn't want to go back out the front, feel free to take any of the back exits. One last thing," the doctor said taking a deep breath, "since we couldn't get any DNA through a semen sample the police asked that they could take Jack's clothes and shoes to run through their lab for any trace evidence that might help with the case. We had Jack take a shower to get cleaned up and then gave her some scrubs to put on but she still has no shoes. If you would like to run home and grab some for her I can let her know you'll be right back." Instead of responding to the doctor Riddick just walked passed him and into Jack's exam room.

He opened the door to find Jack sitting on the side of the exam table with her bare feet hanging down. Her back was facing the door and her shoulders were hunched over and her head was down. Riddick walked around the bed to face her.

"Let's go home kid."

"They took my shoes," Jack responded quietly without looking up. He reached down and put her arms around his neck and then lifted her up off the table, wrapping her legs around his waist with one of his arms underneath her to hold her up. He heard her whimper in his ear and remembered that she was very sore.

"Riddick, I don't want anyone to see me, please, please don't let them see me," she was begging him through her tears. He put his other arm around her shoulders and pushed the door open with his back. The doctor had stayed in the hallway just to make sure Jack didn't need anything else before she left. Riddick came out a few minutes later carrying Jack and heading for the back door. Right before the door closed behind him the doctor heard, "thanks doc" and then they were gone.

Riddick walked back to the house slowly making sure not to jostle Jack too much. He took her to her room and put her under the covers.

"I need to take a shower," Jack said suddenly.

"Didn't you take one at the hospital?"

"I need to take another one," she said as she slowly got up and headed for her bathroom. Riddick got up and went into his room and fell face first onto the bed. He couldn't understand how everyone who got close to him had bad things happened to them. He blamed himself for not being able to save Imam and now he let this happen to Jack. He laid there for a while trying to figure out if he could do anything to help her when he realized that the water in the shower had been on for an awful long time. He jumped up and was in Jack's bathroom in less than a second. The water was still on and the shower curtain was closed. He couldn't see any movement behind the curtain. He put his hand on the edge of the curtain to pull it back hoping with all his life to not find Jack lying at the bottom of the tub with her wrist's slit.


	13. Chapter 13

He let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. He did find Jack at the bottom of the tub but at least she was alive. She was curled up with her knees to her chin and her arms wrapped around them. She was usually a very modest person and while Riddick couldn't really see anything considering the position she was in, any other time this would have caused Jack to freak out, and rightly so. But now she just sat there rocking back and forth and staring straight ahead. Riddick reached over and turned off the water and then grabbed a towel off the rack and started drying off her hair, arms and back. That's as far as he dared to go. He went and got her robe of the hook on the door.

He opened it up out in front of him, "get up Jack and put your robe on so you can get back in bed." She got up slowly turning her back towards Riddick so that she could slip her arms through the robe. Riddick turned his head to the side to give her some privacy. As soon as he felt her arms were through he pulled the robe up over her shoulders. She wrapped the robe around herself and tied up the belt. Riddick gently pulled her hair out from under the collar of the robe. He picked her up and brought her out of her bathroom…and kept on walking.

"Riddick, where are we going," Jack asked half asleep, resting her head on his shoulder. He got into his bed still holding on to her and didn't let go of her the whole night.

Things only got worse from there. Jack would get hysterical whenever Riddick had to go to work and when Riddick was home she wouldn't let go of him. When he did go to work he got calls from her the whole day telling him how scared she was and begging him to just come home. Because Riddick felt so guilty about what happened to her he was enabling this behavior. He wanted her to be close to him so that he could make sure nothing bad happened to her again. Everything that needed to be bought he ordered online so he wouldn't have to go out. He always declined overtime hours so he could get straight home to her. On more than one occasion he left work to go home and check on her. They were both exhausted and depressed.

Riddick was working for a very kind and very, very famous movie star at the time. People would actually make trips to the planet just in hopes to see him. His daughter was a friend of one of the friends that Jack used to go to the clubs with so he already knew what had happened to Riddick's "sister". He didn't mention it though; he didn't want to look like he was prying. At the same time he started to notice that Riddick didn't look so good and he kept getting all sorts of cell phone calls, he was worried about him.

"I think you should take some time off," the actor told him one day. Riddick knew this day was coming, he was getting fired.

"The agency can send someone else to you," Riddick responded, feeling about a billion times more tired than he had felt moments before.

"Just temporarily of course," the man replied, "you are the best guard I have ever had. You have saved me from numerous close calls. I also know that I would give up everything I have ever had for my family. Family is everything and right now you need to take care of your sister and yourself. Go home, get some rest and please let someone help you and your sister. I have a number to a very good friend of mine who also happens to be a therapist if you would like to have it."

"Thank you for the time off and thank you for the offer but I already have a number," Riddick said thinking back on the business card the doctor gave him.

"Well I suggest you go home and use it because I'm still telling you to take the time off, with pay of course."

Riddick went home to make sure Jack was all right. She was so happy he would be there now all the time. Riddick was trying to figure out how he was going to get Jack to make that phone call. They were in bed about to drift off to sleep.

"Jack, will you call the therapist tomorrow and talk to her?"

"I don't know her," Jack responded, on the verge of tears.

"Okay, will you talk to me?"

"I'm afraid you'll laugh or think I'm stupid."

"You'll feel better if you tell me."

"Okay," she said and after a long sigh began.

"I feel used and damaged. I feel like no guy will ever want me now. I feel like I either have to lie to him or tell him the truth and then he will want nothing to do with me. I feel like it was my fault for going out by myself, for not paying attention to my drink when it was on the table. But I also feel like I was robbed. I always thought that my first time would be wonderful and nice and be a good memory. Instead it isn't a memory at all. I'm not a virgin anymore and I wasn't even able to enjoy it. There."

"Am I laughing Jack?"

"No."

"Am I mad?"

"No," Jack said as she turned around and grabbed hold of him.

"Jack I can listen to you, and I will never judge you but I don't know what to do or say to make you feel better. I'll make you a deal, if you talk to the therapist so will I."

"You would do that for me?"

"Kid, I'm beginning to realize I need to do it for you and me."


	14. Chapter 14

The lady on the other side of the phone was very nice and kind. She listened to Riddick and Jack but never pushed them too far. She reassured them that what happened was not either of their fault and not to blame themselves or each other. Slowly things started getting better. The therapist warned them both that things would never be exactly the same, but she did let them know that they would be okay.

They were still sleeping in Riddick's bed but Jack knew she should go back to her own room no matter how much she wanted to stay. She knew Riddick wanted her to get back to her own room. At first Riddick thought he wanted her to stay with him because of what happened but as time went on and things were getting better for Jack he found himself still not wanting her to leave. It felt good to be able to hold onto someone. It felt good to wake up and someone be there. It felt good to just be able to sleep with someone. And for some crazy reason it felt good for that person to be Jack. These thoughts disturbed Riddick at first but his need for her eventually outweighed these other thoughts. He just wished she felt the same way, but deep down he couldn't bring himself to believe she did.

She knew Riddick wanted his room back. She knew he wanted things to go back to how it was before. She didn't, she didn't want to leave him. But she knew she had to, she just didn't know how. She had gotten so used to him lying there. She had gotten used to how nice he smelled and how the sheets smelled like him. She was used to lying close to him and feeling his heart beat still amazed that after all he had been through there still turned out to be some good in him. And even more surprising that good was for her. After that night in the skiff he had never hurt her again. Yes he was quiet, which was frustrating when she wanted to talk and yes he was a guy so he said some stupid things sometimes that hurt her feelings, but he never did any of it on purpose. She was going to miss him lying next to her.

That night she decided to try to get used to her bed again.

"Riddick, can we sleep in my bed tonight?"

"Why?"

"I tell you before we go to sleep. It's important okay?"

"Alright, Jack."

He didn't care where he slept but this new development worried him, he knew what was coming. She didn't want to be with him anymore. They got under her covers and she turned to face him.

"Riddick, I have to get used to being in my own bed again. I know you want your room back and I know you want things to go back to the way they were. So we are going to sleep in here tonight together and then tomorrow night I am going to try to sleep in here by myself."

There, she said it. She didn't think she was going to get the words out. She could have sworn that Riddick's eyes were watery but then he spoke and there was no emotion, "okay Jack, if you think you're ready," was his only response.

She put her arms around his arms and shoulders like you would do with a child. She of course couldn't get her arms totally around him but she did the best she could. She then lay down next to him with her head next to his. She began singing to him softly in his ear. She could feel him relax in her arms. It had been such a long time since she sang; she wanted him to know she was okay. Suddenly being this close to him completely overwhelmed her, she wanted to be closer. She slowly put her leg up over his leg. She thought this would cause him to get up and leave. Instead he took his arm out from her and put it around her shoulder leaving his hand resting on her back. She couldn't tell if he was almost asleep or almost awake. His eyes were closed so she didn't know if he was aware of what was happening. She kind of figured he did considering he could be sound asleep and still somehow know what was going on.

He was just lying there on his back perfectly still. She wanted to kiss him but she remembered what happened the last two times she did that. She decided to ask him, what was the worst thing he could say?

"Riddick?"

"hmm," Riddick replied sounding half asleep.

"I want to kiss you."

Well now he was wide-awake. He didn't know what to say to that. Did she really want to kiss him or did she really just want to kiss someone? And why did she want to kiss him – would it mean anything or was it just because of hormones? He finally decided that he would figure that out later.

"Okay," he finally replied but he still didn't move.

"But that is all I want to do, is that going to be okay?" Jack wanted to clarify.

"Okay," Riddick replied again, still on his back looking up at the ceiling. This was less talking than Jack was used to, even from Riddick. It then occurred to her that he might just be nervous and for some reason that made her wanted to kiss him even more. She moved up a little bit on the bed so she could reach his face. She was expecting him to move his head up to meet hers but he just kept lying there. Right before her lips touched his he remembered to close his eyes like she told him to before. She kissed him and he didn't move – at all. She didn't know what to do about that. Should she stop and tell him what to do or should she just keep kissing him and hope he would figure it out on his own? Well considering that the fact that she figured it out without anyone ever giving her instructions she figured she would just keep kissing him until he figured it out.

She was right, he was nervous. Not about the actual kissing part but the fact that he didn't know what he was doing. He always knew what he was doing, he didn't like being at a disadvantage. He wouldn't have let anyone else kiss him, he didn't want anyone to make fun of him or laugh at him. He let Jack do it though because he knew that she would never do that to him. He noticed that she was moving her lips a little bit so he decided to try that; hopefully it was what he was supposed to be doing.

Jack noticed that he started moving his lips finally. She reached up to put her hand on the side of his face and he involuntarily flinched but relaxed as soon as she touched him. This was getting better by the second. She loved kissing, but it was a billion times better with Riddick.


	15. Chapter 15

She reached up to touch his face and his first thought was that he was going to get hit, that was the only reason anyone had ever touched his face before. It was a reflex, he knew Jack wouldn't do anything to hurt him and once she touch his face he felt happier than he had pretty much ever felt. He remembered all those years ago when she touched his face while they were on the skiff. He had gotten mad about it then but since all he wanted was for her to do it again. There was just something about it that made him feel like he must be an okay person if she was willing and wanted to touch his face. You can have sex with whoever and you can kiss anybody, but people don't go around touching other people's faces unless they really care about them. He reached up and put his hand on the side of her face.

It dawned on her that he was doing everything she was doing. She decided to lie back down on her side and see what he would do. It worked; he turned onto his side to face her. She put both her hands on the back of his head. He put his hands on the back of her head. She moved her arms to be down around his waist, his hands stayed at the back of her head and when she moved her arms down to wrap around his waist he pulled her head closer to his. Jack thought that was a good sign. He was getting some confidence in what he was doing.

He liked having his hands on the back of her head; it gave him a sense of control, which he always needed. He liked this position better than the one before because he could feel her whole body up against his. He started to think he might need to leave before he did something he shouldn't but he didn't want to let go of her. He always thought that kissing was overrated but now he was wondering how he ever did without it. Riddick didn't have any reference to judge upon but he thought Jack was a really good kisser.

She decided to try one more thing; hopefully it wouldn't get her in trouble. She stuck her tongue in his mouth and hoped she wouldn't get it bitten off.

"What are you doing?!" Riddick pulled back, surprised. "It's what you are supposed to do. Well, you don't have to do it that way, it is just something you can do. You didn't like it?" "I didn't say that, I just don't know what you want me to do." "Just do what I do, that's all." With that he reached over and grabbed her head again. This time he did what she did. He didn't think kissing could have gotten any better, but it just did.

He finally let go of the back of her head so she could breath. She started kissing him all over his face, he liked that a lot. Then she moved down to his neck. She could hear a low rumble coming from his throat. It sounded to her like a cat purring, it was like music to her ears. She then reached up and started to kiss one of his ears. That was too much for him to take. "If you don't stop doing that I will not be responsible for my actions, and I won't be sorry for them either." She moved her head back down on the pillow to look at his eyes. Yeah, he was serious. "Too bad because there is a lot more I can do to your ear than just that." It was all he could do to not ask what, but that would lead to her showing him and he wasn't kidding about not being held responsible. As it was now he knew he would have to leave soon.

She knew she was probably pushing it with the ear thing so she decided to back off. She started giving him little kisses on the mouth. In between her kissing him he was trying to tell her he had to go, finally she heard him. She looked like she was going to cry. "Look kid, I'm just going to be in the other room, you'll be alright. And don't worry, we can do this anytime you want." "It's not that. I feel bad about just kissing you, like I owe you more than that now. Like I got you ready for something that isn't going to happen. I don't want you to be mad at me." "You said you just wanted to kiss me and I agreed, I'm not going to go back on that now. And you don't owe me anything, you have every right to just want to kiss someone. I just need to leave. I am not trying to scare you, I'm just telling you the truth." She nodded an okay to him as he got out of the bed. He had his hand on the doorknob when she spoke again, half asleep "maybe you can be my first too someday," more talking to herself than to him. He knew for certain that if he turned around to look at her after she said that he would lose what little self-control he had.

Opening the door he said, "Jack do you remember when you told me you thought no guy would want to be with you because of what happened to you?" "Yeah, I remember." "I can promise you that won't happen."


	16. Thank you!

First of all thank you to all those who have reviewed and who have put my story on story alert. This part of the story is complete but don't worry I am working on a sequel and will have the first chapter up in a couple of days. All I am going to tell you is that there will be a HUGE plot twist and the story will be a lot more intense.

Thank all of you for sticking with me and overlooking my typos 


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